Documentary Film: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

177 Pages·2007·1.02 MB·English

by  Patricia Aufderheide

DocumentaryFilm:AVeryShortIntroduction
VERYSHORTINTRODUCTIONSareforanyonewantingastimulating
andaccessiblewayintoanewsubject.Theyarewrittenbyexperts,and
havebeenpublishedinmorethantwenty-fivelanguagesworldwide.
Theseriesbeganin1995andnowrepresentsawidevarietyoftopics
inhistory,philosophy,religion,science,andthehumanities.Overthenext
fewyearsitwillgrowtoalibraryofaround200volumes—aVeryShort
IntroductiontoeverythingfromancientEgyptandIndianphilosophyto
conceptualartandcosmology.
VeryShortIntroductionsavailablenow:
AFRICANHISTORY JohnParkerand CHOICETHEORY MichaelAllingham
RichardRathbone CHRISTIANART BethWilliamson
AMERICANPOLITICALPARTIES CHRISTIANITY LindaWoodhead
ANDELECTIONS L.SandyMaisel CLASSICS MaryBeardand
THEAMERICANPRESIDENCY JohnHenderson
CharlesO.Jones CLASSICALMYTHOLOGY
ANARCHISM ColinWard HelenMorales
ANCIENTEGYPT IanShaw CLAUSEWITZ MichaelHoward
ANCIENTPHILOSOPHY JuliaAnnas THECOLDWAR
ANCIENTWARFARE RobertMcMahon
HarrySidebottom CONSCIOUSNESS SusanBlackmore
ANGLICANISM MarkChapman CONTEMPORARYART
THEANGLO-SAXONAGE JulianStallabrass
JohnBlair CONTINENTALPHILOSOPHY
ANIMALRIGHTS DavidDeGrazia SimonCritchley
ANTISEMITISM StevenBeller COSMOLOGY PeterColes
ARCHAEOLOGY PaulBahn THECRUSADES ChristopherTyerman
ARCHITECTURE AndrewBallantyne CRYPTOGRAPHY FredPiper
ARISTOTLE JonathanBarnes andSeanMurphy
ARTHISTORY DanaArnold DADAANDSURREALISM David
ARTTHEORY CynthiaFreeland Hopkins
THEHISTORYOF DARWIN JonathanHoward
ASTRONOMY MichaelHoskin THEDEADSEASCROLLS TimothyLim
ATHEISM JulianBaggini DEMOCRACY BernardCrick
AUGUSTINE HenryChadwick DESCARTES TomSorell
BARTHES JonathanCuller DESIGN JohnHeskett
BESTSELLERS JohnSutherland DINOSAURS DavidNorman
THEBIBLE JohnRiches DOCUMENTARYFILM
THEBRAIN MichaelO’Shea PatriciaAufderheide
BRITISHPOLITICS AnthonyWright DREAMING J.AllanHobson
BUDDHA MichaelCarrithers DRUGS LeslieIversen
BUDDHISM DamienKeown THEEARTH MartinRedfern
BUDDHISTETHICS DamienKeown ECONOMICS ParthaDasgupta
CAPITALISM JamesFulcher EGYPTIANMYTH GeraldinePinch
THECELTS BarryCunliffe EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
CHAOS LeonardSmith BRITAIN PaulLangford
THEELEMENTS PhilipBall KABBALAH JosephDan
EMOTION DylanEvans KAFKA RitchieRobertson
EMPIRE StephenHowe KANT RogerScruton
ENGELS TerrellCarver KIERKEGAARD PatrickGardiner
ETHICS SimonBlackburn THEKORAN MichaelCook
THEEUROPEANUNION JohnPinder LINGUISTICS PeterMatthews
EVOLUTION Brianand LITERARYTHEORY JonathanCuller
DeborahCharlesworth LOCKE JohnDunn
EXISTENTIALISM ThomasFlynn LOGIC GrahamPriest
FASCISM KevinPassmore MACHIAVELLI QuentinSkinner
FEMINISM MargaretWalters THEMARQUISDESADE JohnPhillips
THEFIRSTWORLDWAR MARX PeterSinger
MichaelHoward MATHEMATICS TimothyGowers
FOSSILS KeithThomson MEDICALETHICS TonyHope
FOUCAULT GaryGutting MEDIEVALBRITAIN JohnGillingham
THEFRENCHREVOLUTION andRalphA.Griffiths
WilliamDoyle MODERNART DavidCottington
FREEWILL ThomasPink MODERNIRELAND SeniaPaˇseta
FREUD AnthonyStorr MOLECULES PhilipBall
FUNDAMENTALISM MaliseRuthven MUSIC NicholasCook
GALILEO StillmanDrake MYTH RobertA.Segal
GAMETHEORY KenBinmore NATIONALISM StevenGrosby
GANDHI BhikhuParekh THENEWTESTAMENTAS
GEOPOLITICS KlausDodds LITERATURE KyleKeefer
GLOBALCATASTROPHES BillMcGuire NEWTON RobertIliffe
GLOBALIZATION ManfredSteger NIETZSCHE MichaelTanner
GLOBALWARMING MarkMaslin NINETEENTH-CENTURY
THEGREATDEPRESSIONANDTHE BRITAIN ChristopherHarvieand
NEWDEAL EricRauchway H.C.G.Matthew
HABERMAS JamesGordonFinlayson NORTHERNIRELAND
HEGEL PeterSinger MarcMulholland
HEIDEGGER MichaelInwood PARTICLEPHYSICS FrankClose
HIEROGLYPHS PenelopeWilson PAUL E.P.Sanders
HINDUISM KimKnott PHILOSOPHY EdwardCraig
HISTORY JohnH.Arnold PHILOSOPHYOFLAW
HOBBES RichardTuck RaymondWacks
HUMANEVOLUTION BernardWood PHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCE
HUMANRIGHTS AndrewClapham SamirOkasha
HUME A.J.Ayer PHOTOGRAPHY SteveEdwards
IDEOLOGY MichaelFreeden PLATO JuliaAnnas
INDIANPHILOSOPHY SueHamilton POLITICS KennethMinogue
INTELLIGENCE IanJ.Deary POLITICALPHILOSOPHY
INTERNATIONAL DavidMiller
MIGRATION KhalidKoser POSTCOLONIALISM RobertYoung
INTERNATIONALRELATIONS POSTMODERNISM ChristopherButler
PaulWilkinson POSTSTRUCTURALISM
ISLAM MaliseRuthven CatherineBelsey
JOURNALISM IanHargreaves PREHISTORY ChrisGosden
JUDAISM NormanSolomon PRESOCRATIC
JUNG AnthonyStevens PHILOSOPHY CatherineOsborne
PSYCHOLOGY GillianButlerand SOCIALANDCULTURAL
FredaMcManus ANTHROPOLOGY
PSYCHIATRY TomBurns JohnMonaghanandPeterJust
QUANTUMTHEORY SOCIALISM MichaelNewman
JohnPolkinghorne SOCIOLOGY SteveBruce
RACISM AliRattansi SOCRATES C.C.W.Taylor
THERENAISSANCE JerryBrotton THESPANISHCIVILWAR
RENAISSANCEART HelenGraham
GeraldineA.Johnson SPINOZA RogerScruton
ROMANBRITAIN PeterSalway STUARTBRITAIN JohnMorrill
THEROMANEMPIRE TERRORISM CharlesTownshend
ChristopherKelly THEOLOGY DavidF.Ford
ROUSSEAU RobertWokler THEHISTORYOFTIME
RUSSELL A.C.Grayling LeofrancHolford-Strevens
RUSSIANLITERATURE CatrionaKelly TRAGEDY AdrianPoole
THERUSSIANREVOLUTION THETUDORS JohnGuy
S.A.Smith TWENTIETH-CENTURY
SCHIZOPHRENIA ChrisFrithand BRITAIN KennethO.Morgan
EveJohnstone THEVIKINGS JulianRichards
SCHOPENHAUER WITTGENSTEIN A.C.Grayling
ChristopherJanaway WORLDMUSIC PhilipBohlman
SHAKESPEARE GermaineGreer THEWORLDTRADE
SIKHISM EleanorNesbitt ORGANIZATION AmritaNarlikar
Availablesoon:
Expressionism ModernChina
KaterinaReed-Tsocha RanaMitter
Geography JohnMatthews Quakerism
andDavidHerbert PinkDandelion
GermanLiterature ScienceandReligion
NicholasBoyle ThomasDixon
HIV/AIDS Sexuality
AlanWhiteside VeroniqueMottier
Memory
JonathanFoster
Formoreinformationvisitourwebsite
www.oup.co.uk/general/vsi/
Patricia Aufderheide
Documentary
Film
A Very Short Introduction
1
3
OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.,publishesworksthatfurther
OxfordUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellence
inresearch,scholarship,andeducation.
Oxford NewYork
Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi
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Withofficesin
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece
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Copyright(cid:1)2007byPatriciaAufderheide
PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016
www.oup.com
OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,
withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Aufderheide,Patricia.
Documentaryfilm:averyshortintroduction
/PatriciaAufderheide.
p.cm.—(Veryshortintroductions)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-19-518270-5(pbk.)
1.Documentaryfilms—Historyandcriticism.
I.Title.
PN1995.9.D6A942007
070.1’8—dc22
2007018114
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
Contents
ListofIllustrations viii
Introduction ix
1 Definingthedocumentary 1
Naming 1
Form 10
Founders 25
Cinemaverit´e 44
2 Subgenres 56
Publicaffairs 56
Governmentpropaganda 65
Advocacy 77
Historical 91
Ethnographic 106
Nature 117
3 Conclusion 125
Anoteonhistoryandscholarship 128
OneHundredGreatDocumentaries 137
FurtherReadingandViewing 140
Index 147
List of Illustrations
1 Toxiceffectsofvinyl HoopDreams. 54
productionexploredinBlue (cid:1)KartemquinFilms1994
Vinyl. 8
(cid:1)ChrisPilaro 8 CrowdscenefromTriumph
oftheWill. 72
2 Mothwingsandscrapsof (cid:1)Photofest
twigsandflowersin
Mothlight. 17 9 Transatlanticphonecallin
EstateofStanBrakhageand TheNewAmericans. 89
www.fredcamper.com (cid:1)KartemquinFilms2004
3 TraditionalInuitcustomsin 10 Armoredtanksasshownin
NanookoftheNorth. 29 TheBattleofChile. 103
LibraryofCongress FirstRun/IcarusFilms
4 BritishmailtraininNight 11 BodyguardsofSalvador
Mail. 34 Allende,inChile,Obstinate
MuseumofModernArtFilmStills memory. 103
Archive FirstRun/IcarusFilms
5 CameralensinManwitha 12 AmazonianIndiansin
MovieCamera. 43 TheSmellofthePequi
(cid:1)Photofest Fruit. 115
VideointheVillages
6 SellerofBiblesin
Salesman. 48 13 AlGorepresents
(cid:1)Photofest AnInconvenient
Truth. 123
7 AfricanAmerican (cid:1)2006byParamountClassics,a
basketballplayerin divisionofParamountPictures
Introduction
Thisintroductiontodocumentaryfilmisdirectedtopeoplewho
likewatchingdocumentariesandwanttoknowmoreaboutthe
form;topeoplewhohopetomakedocumentariesandwantto
knowthefieldanditsexpectations;andtostudentsandteachers
whohopetolearnmoreandtellotherswhattheyhavelearned.
DocumentaryFilmisorganizedtopresentanoverviewofcentral
issuesandthentodiscussdifferentsubgenres.Iparticularly
wantedtousecategoriesthatcouldaddressconcernsabout
objectivity,advocacy,andbiasthathavealwaysswirledaround
documentarybutwithrenewedvigorsincethebreakthrough
popularityofFahrenheit9/11.Onecouldeasilyselectoraddother
categories,suchasmusic,sports,labor,diary,andfood;Iselected
theonesusedinthisbookbecausetheyarecommoncategoriesin
thedocumentarymarketplace,andbecausetheyraiseimportant
issuesabouttruthandrepresentingreality.
Thisthematicorganizationallowsyoutoenterthesubjectmatter
easilythroughthekindoffilmthatfirstattractedyoutoit,andit
allowsmetomakeconnectionsbetweenhistoricalerasandto
demonstratetheongoingnatureofcorecontroversiesin
documentary.Thosewhopreferamorestraightforward
chronologymaynotethateachofthesubgenrechaptersis
organizedchronologically(withtheexceptionofthepropaganda